In reviewing the current issue of the China Architects and Builders; Compendium the practice of the Chinese to establish factories "when and where it sults them is brought light. In an article on "Land and Buildings in Shanghai" the editors say:
We notice that some landlords te beginning to. cater for' the factory and machine work of all kinds now carried on in this City. in ordinary Chinese shops and dwelling houses." The small manufacturer rent= ing one or two ordinary houses can recording to the needs terrace has his owa litre factory and
of his Dusiness by renting a {ew more 'Adjoining houses al any' time." Many (of these factories are equipped with Guile extensive "snd. elaborate Machinery, for which the buildings most tnsultable. There i a Very decided need for fireproof houses of brick and concrete built-in adjoining Sections of a. sise. similar "tothe small tenants. arian and eminently practical in conception. To. the members. of the general public happily so physically {it as never to need the services. of the ambulance the siren is horrible, but "to the unfortunate. patient in: side it must do more harm to the nervous system than the saving of time traversing the streets. effected by the use of the siren could ever offset. Such 'a type of siren J5.in common use in the United States because a distinctive type is needed for legal purposes, but framed against the background of noise in which Shanghai exists surely a more suitable type—even musical if needs be—could be found to ensure a more comfortable conveyance of the patient to the hospital. One patient—exiremely grateful for the Existence of the! Ambulance" service—comparea the Hiren to a "banshee", mentioning ase in which another patient, every ime the siren pierced the alr, sprang ut of bed and tried to leave. The id bell formerly in use may have pot been musical but it treated. the feelings of the patient with a greater degree of consideration than the new Siren: of film titles. The nearest parallel, though on a much lesser scale, perhaps the advertising of books. 'The bookworm may be of a rather more intellectual average type than the film fan, but the sensational book ike the sensational film. has the largest following. The bookworm's knowledge of authors and publishers, together' with th brief" synopsis determines hie selection as a rule, fas does the film fan's knowledge of the player and producer. with a synopsis of the film itself," There seems, therefore, no valid reason why" the reasonable restraint exercised in advertising a parucular book should not be~ followed in advertising a film version of the same story. One of the strongest arguments in favour of a clean up of film advertising, no leis than of films, is the outspoken antagonism it arouses among the large non-filmgoing public, They judge films not by the screen but by the newspaper advertisement oF the poster; they are influential articulate. They forget,.or perhaps ignore, the fact that films have to paso. two rigid censorates before being shown locally, and base much of their opinion on advance publicity. Antagonism is often fostered without any real reason. To encourage or perpetuate it is merely a foolish polley, the consideration of which we commend. to those responsible for Alm publicity in general, /Some system of control and registration of such factories, if they are to] be encouraged, becomes increasingly apparent. Three recent cases which loss of life occurred cane quoted, and there is little doubt that} any such factories exist in both, Settlements which are far from being "safe end adaptable buildings for small tenants" In the same issue of the Compendium more than pages of small type are devoted to the Building Rules and Regul ons of the International and French Concession and Greater Shanghai, Registration and subsequent control of such buildings as are used. for factory purposes would seem to be natural consequence of the issu? of: permits to erect them by the three authorities concerted.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.